Ex-CTA workers charged with wire fraud, identity theft

Donella Anderson Watkins, 41, and her husband, Sammie Watkins, 55, of Lansing, have been in connection with a scheme to steal thousands of dollars from the CTA retirement funds.

Donella Anderson Watkins, 41, and her husband, Sammie Watkins, 55, of Lansing, have been in connection with a scheme to steal thousands of dollars from the CTA retirement funds. (Photos courtesy Ilinois attorney general's office)

Tracy Swartz, @tracyswartzRedEye

Two former CTA bus drivers are accused of submitting fake death certificates and stealing the identities of former co-workers in an attempt to take thousands of dollars in CTA retirement funds, the Attorney General's office announced Wednesday.

Donella Anderson Watkins, 41, of Lansing, was charged with wire fraud, identity theft and continuing a financial crimes enterprise. Her husband, Sammie Watkins, 55, of Lansing, was charged with wire fraud and attempted identity theft, according to a release from Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office.

The couple appeared Wednesday in Cook County Criminal Court, officials said. Both were bus drivers, according to salary information posted on the CTA's website. The couple was fired from the CTA in July 2013, a CTA spokeswoman said.

"The defendants took unthinkable steps to attempt to avoid tax penalties and steal retirement funds from their coworkers," Madigan said in the release. "My office will ensure they are held accountable for concocting this elaborate, illegal scheme."

The couple allegedly submitted false documentation to administrators of a CTA retirement program to seek emergency withdrawals from their accounts without incurring a tax penalty, according to officials.

The false documentation included submitting fake death certificates for their living children to create an "emergency need" for supposed funeral expenses, Madigan's office said.

The couple also allegedly stole the identities of other CTA employees to submit false withdrawal forms on their behalf without the employees' knowledge. Donella Watkins secured $18,000 in the name of a co-worker, according to the release.

The CTA initiated an investigation in mid-2012 and then turned over information to the state inspector general, CTA spokeswoman Lambrini Lukidis said. In July 2012, each of the Watkinses was earning $29.65 per hour.

Each of the Watkinses was ordered held in lieu of $60,000 bail in a bond hearing Wednesday morning, according to the attorney general's office.